Around July 8, 1847

In this day and age, newspapers rarely print fiction. Of course, there is the occasional magical story written by a third grade class that appears every once a week in the Arts and Entertainment section of the paper, but for the most part, fictional stories of real substance are not published in newspapers anymore. This was not the case in the 1800's. Appearing in The Valley Star each week was...

By the summer of 1847, the Mexican War had been going on for just over a year. Newspapers kept citizens up to date with daily progress by their American troops south of the border, including lists of the casualties as well as those enlisting. New Orleans residents opened up their Times Picayunes the morning of July 8 to read a familiar notice, entitled Departure of Troops. It announced...

After reading through the Plantations letters and the excerpts provided by classmates I think that the overall theme is that monetary importance and gaining income is all that truly mattered. A few of the interpretations that I have read from classmates mention that they were surprised about the “care and compassion” that both supervisor Lewellyn and Mr. Cameron had toward the slaves. However,...

As of May 2, 1847 the New Orleans Court Recorder reported that thousands of whites had been sentenced to the workhouse for acts of vagrancy. Often times the courts handed down these sentences without proof, trial, or opportunity to appeal. The fate of these vagrants represents a common occurrence throughout the South. Around this time period in South Carolina the leadership sold vagrants into...

The white population of Culpeper County, Virginia was dismayed when their church services were inexcusably disrupted by the boisterous activities of some African Americans. As a petition to the State Legislature, drafted by a number of the county's white citizens in 1846, states, their worshipping services are of late so interrupted by drinking, particularly by Negroes on the Sabbath, that they...

Around 1846, the students of Centenary College decided to take a stand. Fifty-three of the pupils signed a petition for the removal of a professor from their institute of higher education. In adding their names to the list, the students accused Professor Jones of, participating in ... the shooting of the boys Unfortunately, the petition gave no further explanation of the alleged incident. However,...

As the Mexican War continued through 1847, Americans expressed a growing amount of opposition to a war that originally promised as an easy victory was growing into a drawn-out costly endeavor. In July 1847, former Whig Senator William Cabell Rives spoke at the University of Virginia against the war. He emphasized that the US had no right to interfere with the institutions of other countries'...

One spring evening in May of 1847, Issac Hays, chairman of the newly established American Medical Association (AMA), stood from his seat surrounded by colleagues, having just finished creating the original code of ethics adopted by the AMA. The code, having since then been the standard of medical ethics in the United States, was modeled heavily on the ethical beliefs of the European physician...

From the original letters between the Cameron family and their employees, slaves are often mentioned since they are an integral part of the plantation operation. Since the letters were not written or received by the slaves themselves, the language is often derogatory or just in reference to the slaves as property of value. These letters show the nature of the culture and the lack of respect and...

During the final examinations for girls at Greensboro Female College, a local newspaper commended the institution in its effort to develop and cultivate the intellect and give dignity to the mind while at the same time preparing women to bear with dignity the responsibilities and trials of the domestic state. According to the Greensboro Patriot, the sister women's college, Edgeworth, founded...